


Father's Permission

by Astoria Gracewell (arh581958)



Category: Mortal Instruments Series - Cassandra Clare
Genre: Asking Permission, Fatherly Love, M/M, Magnus asks Robert, marry alec, marrying alec, proposal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-08
Updated: 2014-11-08
Packaged: 2018-02-24 14:11:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,798
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2584253
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/arh581958/pseuds/Astoria%20Gracewell
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Short fluff piece. Magnus goes to Robert in Idris and asks permission to marry Alec.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Father's Permission

"Warlock" Robert Lightwood greeted. "What brings you the Gard when council isn't in session?" He stood near the middle of the Council Hall, parchment in hand, studying the latest changes to the Covenant. He wasn't in the formal Inquisitor's robes, but was adorned in a tailored gray pin-striped suit. He turned to face the warlock who had entered.

"I do have a name, you know. It's not warlock. It's Magnus the Magnificent, Magnus Bane, Magnus the High Warlock of Brooklyn, okay that one has warlock in it. Magnus, you should call me Magnus." the other corrected. Magnus, too, was not dressed in the prescribed black robes made for the representatives of the council. Instead wore a dark purple formal suit that appeared to be taken straight from the 1800's. It had gold embroidery made in the pattern of leaves and feathers, lining up the front, the high collar, and the cuffs.

"Bane" Robert acknowledged stubbornly, not wanting to say the warlock's name.

Magnus gave a low, methodical bow with his hands raised behind him like wings of a swan. His long overcoat gracefully gliding beside his tailor-fit trousers. "I came for more personal matters, Inquisitor." he said. He raised his head, cat-like eyes filled with determination looked straight at the second most powerful man in the Clave. He didn't even flinch when Robert just raised an eyebrow. He was used to being ridiculed, doubted, and judged. He had four hundred years of experience living with that.

"And what business is that?" Robert finally asked after a good ten minutes of pure silence.

"It's about Alec."

Robert closed his book and lowered it to his side. "What about my son?"

Magnus took a tentative step forward. When Robert neither stepped back nor tore slice his head straight off, he took is as a good sign and strode forward. "I want you to give me permission to marry him. I even dressed in the most formal set of clothes I have left! There's a bit outdated but I think it's very retro. "

"You what?!" Robert exclaimed, apparently appalled at the very idea. "How dare you, Representative Bane. You may be the chosen spokesperson for the Children of Lilith but that does not give you the right to order the Inquisitor around. I may have recognized your relationship with my son but that does not, in any way, reflect my acceptance of this--this travesty! He is a Shadowhunter who makes a mockery of the Covenant by consorting with the likes of you and I will never allow you take that away."

"I WOULD NEVER ALLOW THAT!" Magnus yelled back, using his full-on High Brooklyn of Warlock voice and it echoed the deserted hall. "I would never ask Alec to become anything less that the proud Shadowhunter that he is. I would never wish, nor will I allow, for him to be stripped of his mark. I've heard it being done before. I am aware of how excruciating the experience of making something _less_ than what they were made. I don't want that for Alec."

Robert opened his mouth to speak but Magnus raised a palm in front of the Shadowhunter's face. "I am not finished." His golden eyes seemed to glow for a few seconds before narrowing. "What is Alec's favourite colour?"

"W--pardon?"

"What.is.Alec's.favourite.colour?"

"Black."

"Wrong. He wears black, dark blue, and grey, all the time because it's convenient and because it doesn't easily stain with demon blood. His favourite colour is green--not the green like grass, or moss, or emerald nor jade. The shade of green between pine and basil. What is his favourite food?"

"Bane why are you asking me all this?"

"It's Magnus. Just answer the question, Robert."

"Spaghetti with meatballs."

"Wrong again."

"I don't see how--"

"Shut up and listen. Alec's favourite food is roast pigeon. The one with lots of herbs and butter. He loves it because it reminds him of his childhood. It's one of the Nephilim's more traditional dishes in Idris. Maryse used to make often after the Uprising and before you were exiled to New York. Now, why does he love being a Shadowhunter?"

"It's in his blood! He has the blood of the angel flowing through his veins."

Magnus inhaled deeply before speaking. "That's the third one you got wrong."

"Bane--"

"It's Magnus."

"Fine. Magnus, I don't see your point in asking me these silly questions. What had any of this got to do with my son?"

"I am making a point."

"Which is?" Robert pressed impatiently. "I do not have time for your nonsense. On with it!"

"Alec loves being a Shadowhunter because he can watch over his siblings. Jace and Isabelle are both so brash and headstrong. They go into situation without thinking of the consequences. They live for the kill like the perfect little Shadowhunters you wanted them to be. Alec's not like that. He goes on hunts, on missions, so that he can protect those two from themselves and their stupidity. He watches their backs. He keeps them alive. He knows that with him by their side, they will live despite their own recklessness."

"My point is you don't know the first thing about him, Robert. For nearly all of his life, he has lived under the Clave's rules, followed every order, and did what he was told like a good soldier. He did all of that and more, even to the point that he almost sacrificed his own happiness. And he continues to do it each and every day. The smallest bit of happiness that he allows himself to be selfish with is his relationship  with me. Because despite everything that it says in your covenant, he chose me. He chose a life with ridicule and he chose to spend it with me. You may not think so but that is the bravest thing I have ever seen a Shadowhunter do. To live amidst the Clave's disdain just because of his sexuality yet to continue their fight for their cause. Unlike you and the rest of you Shadowhunter brats, Alexander's worth is not in the number of demons he slays but on the number of times he has willingly put himself selflessly in harm's way for the sake of other--other who even might not accept who he is wholeheartedly."

"Enough" Robert's stern voice cut him off before he could say anymore.

"Robert--"

"I said, I've heard enough, Magnus." With a finger, he lowered the warlock's raised hand until they were once again face to face. "How often do you make him smile?"

Magnus' eyes widened in surprise. "I, uhm, I--I don't know. He smiles when he wakes up, when he messes up my hair before he starts making coffee. Sometimes when we try to make breakfast, he smiles whether we succeed or we fail. There are times that he doesn't but I still the twinkle in his blue eyes. He give me a small one right before he leaves for the Institute to train. At night he give me his biggest smile, right after he stomps into the hall with his dirty shoes and track mud all over our apartment. I don't know how many times. I can't count because each and every one is too precious to just be another number."

"Do you make him laugh?"

"Of course I do!" the second question, Magnus was more prepared. "We laugh all the time. I make him laugh. He makes me laugh. Sometimes it's little things. Sometimes it's stupid things. Other times, it's premeditated jokes. He hides it a lot. He bites his cheek to stop himself laughing out loud. He covers his face with whatever he can get his hands on, or in dire cases he uses his hands. But my favourite one is when I tickle him and he can't stop himself from shouting 'mercy' until I stop."

"Will you be able to let him go when he grows old and dies?"

"No." Magnus' expression changed cheery to dead serious. "I will never let him go. I will remember him. I will remember his jet-black hair, his clear blue eyes, the sound of his voice, the feel of his skin, the patterns of all his marks, the way he sings in off-key, the way he sits when he's reading a book--I will never forget. He is my very first Shadowhunter and the last person I will ever love."

"Okay."

"Excuse me?"

Robert's expression was soft bordering on tender. It was unlike anything Magnus had ever seen on the other man's face. " _You choose whom you want to be with when you’re too young, and you change, and they don’t change with you._ " He repeated the exact words he once told his son. "Magnus, I doubt that it hardly applies to someone of your-- _gifts_ " It was hard to find proper words. "But it applies to Alec. He is young and naive--"

"You're doubting our feelings, our relationship--!" Blue sparks flickered briefly on his Magnus' finger tips.

"I have listened to your words all day. I think you should listen to mine--as your lover's parent."

"Fine" he huffed like he was sixteen all-over again.

"I do not mean to doubt your love--his love for you or your love for him. But he is young. He has yet to discover the world around him. I know how much he cares for you. Alec had never spoken against me the way he did when he defended you. I saw it, the fire in his eyes like I have never seen before. You bring out the best in him. You make him good. You make him fight to live--to live so he can return to you. My son is alive because of you. For that I am thankful. I am not someone who can speak about the sanctity of marriage but I know how it is when feelings changes. I simply wish that when Alec's feelings do change, you can let him go."

"I--"

Then there was a look in Robert's eyes--it looked pained but filled with hope. "I hope that his feelings do not change even when he is old and wrinkly. I wish your marriage to succeed where Maryse and I have failed."

"I--" Magnus, the great and powerful warlock, was out of words. "Thank you."

Robert laughed. It was the first time that Magnus had ever heard the man laugh. Suddenly, Magnus felt, like it wasn't such a bad idea go here in the first place. This was good. That was a good sign. Maybe the day that Robert accepted their relationship was today.  

"Am I invited to your wedding?"

"Of course you are, _father_! Why would we ever forget to invite you?"

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> [ **Got a prompt?** ](http://arh581958.tumblr.com/)


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